A 68-year-old grandmother, formerly from North Vancouver, was sentenced to six months of house arrest this week for attempting to buy her husband’s way out of a child sexual abuse investigation for $100,000.
The woman was handed the sentence in North Vancouver provincial court March 13 after pleading guilty to a charge of obstruction of justice.
Crown prosecutor Grace Oh told the court at the time the woman made the offer, in 2011, her husband was under investigation for allegations he had sexually abused two step-granddaughters as well as his stepdaughters, when those women were children.
Oh said while the police investigation was underway, the grandmother phoned up her ex-son-in-law — the father of the two granddaughters — and offered to pay money if he would ensure the complaints against her husband were withdrawn.
Soon after, the woman sent an email, offering to deposit $50,000 for each of the two girls into a registered education savings plan if they dropped the complaints.
“You said you want him to rot in jail,” the woman wrote in the email. “This will destroy me too and will greatly impact my entire family. This is why I am hoping for a more humane solution.”
The son-in-law refused the offer and instead went to police.
Oh asked for a six to eight month sentence, saying the incident had occurred within the context of a “severely dysfunctional family” where allegations of sexual abuse had been known about for years. “The approach was made to the one person who was willing to stand up and say no,” she said.
The woman’s defence lawyer asked for a conditional discharge, saying his client had taken responsibility for her actions, had serious health problems in recent years and was stressed and ashamed.
The woman also apologized directly, telling the judge that she acted out of fear. “I’m very, very sorry for this,” she said.
Judge William Rodgers said a conditional sentence was needed to denounce the conduct.
“If the financial inducement had been successful, it is likely the prosecution would have been made much more difficult,” he said.
He sentenced the woman to house arrest, with orders to be at home all day except for three hours — or with permission — during the first three months. In the last three months, the woman must be home from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. each day. He also put her on a year’s probation.
Under a publication, ban neither the woman nor members of her family can be named to protect the identities of alleged victims in the case.
Following the police investigation, the woman’s husband was eventually charged with several sexual offences against family members. Those charges have not yet been proven in court.
A trial is set for later this year.
